Currently, two methods are used to produce corrugated carton blanks—using a box machine or using a die cutter.
Broadly Defined:
                A box machine crush-cuts corrugated material between adjustable discs that are mounted on rollers. By adjusting the discs, the material is processed to produce varying types and sizes of carton blanks.        A die cutter crush-cuts corrugated material between a die that is mounted on a press and an anvil. Using dedicated dies, the material is processed to produce varying types and sizes of carton blanks.        
A box machine method to produce corrugated carton blanks will now be described.
Box machines can produce any size carton blanks for these standard corrugated cartons:                RSC—Regular Slotted Container        HSC—Half Slotted Container        FOL—Full Overlap Slotted Container        OSC—Overlap Slotted Container        OPF—One Piece Folder        FTD—Telescope Trays and Lids        5PF or FPF—5-panel Folders        
For the sake of brevity, only RSC will be mentioned specifically in herein. Unless otherwise noted, the comments about and descriptions of our invention apply to all of the above-listed cartons.
The steps to create above-named corrugated carton blanks using a box machine are:                1. A corrugated carton starts out as a stock sheet of corrugated material of a particular width and length.        2. The box machine performs the following functions on the sheet material to produce a carton blank that determines the type and size of a carton:                    Creasing to define the carton's length and width.            Scoring to define the carton's height and to define the folding lines of the flaps.            Slotting to separate the flaps and to create the manufactured joints used to glue the carton together.                        3. Next the folder gluer equipment folds and glues the blank at the manufactured joint to create the knocked down flat (KDF). The folder gluer equipment can be attached to the box machine, or it can stand alone.        4. A KDF is shipped flat to the end-user where it is erected into a carton.        
Box machine limitations include that a box machine can crease, score or slot only straight lines that are parallel to the length of the carton blank and perpendicular to the horizontal lines. A box machine cannot crease, score or slot straight lines that are angled; it cannot produce curved lines:                Angled and curved lines are used to produce specially designed cartons such as self-erecting, snap-bottom or other special-style cartons.        A box machine cannot produce a QuickBox™, a box having a continuous, quick closable closure panel as disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,682, that requires angles and curves.        
A die-cutter method to produce corrugated carton blanks will now be described.
A die cutter can produce any size of above-named types of corrugated carton blanks, as well as virtually any type/size of specialty carton blank. A die cutter produces a specific type and size of carton blank. This carton blank can contain any combination of:                Straight lines that are horizontal and perpendicular        Straight lines that are angled        Curved lines        
A die is a component of die cutter equipment. The die is mounted on a roller in a rotary press. The die creases, scores, and slots stock sheet material when the material is fed between a die and an anvil to produce the carton blank. The steps to create the above-named corrugated carton blanks using a die cutter using the die-cutting method are the same as described above for the box machine.
There are two methods of using die cutters to produce carton blanks:                Flat die cutter: Uses a flat die in a flat press. This type of die cutter is used to produce carton blanks for specialty-type cartons and/or for short production runs. It cannot operate at high speed. To produce a different type/size carton blank, the first die must be removed and another die must be installed. This type of die cutter rarely will be used to produce QuickBox type boxes because they can be mass-produced at high-speed production using rotary die cutters.        Rotary die cutter: Uses a cylindrical die fitted around a roller in a rotary press. This type of die cutter produces any type/size of carton blanks using high-speed production. To produce a specific type or size of carton blank that will become a particular type or size carton—such as a full overlap slotted container versus a regular slotted container—a dedicated die for that type/size of carton blank must be mounted on the roller of the rotary die cutter. To produce a different type/size carton blank, the first die must be removed and another dedicated die must be mounted.        
Today, all rotary die cutters for the corrugated carton industry use a dedicated die that cannot be adjusted to produce varying sized carton blanks and/or varying types of carton blanks that have special characteristics such as special folding patterns, with or without flaps, etc.
For Example:
                To produce carton blank A in size 1, dedicated die #1 must be used for that type/size blank.        To produce carton blank A in size 2, dedicated die #2 must be used for that type/size blank.        To produce carton blank B in size 1, dedicated die #3 must be used for that type/size blank.        